Manchester and County

27th November.
Another trip to Manchester, and the last in this series. The misleading title is actually the given name of a branch of J.D. Wetherspoon's in Manchester's Picadilly area. I chose it because it was convenient to where I was staying, and usually pleases and is pretty competitively priced.
I would not have expected the place to be full on a Monday night, but it was. Mainly drinkers, and not being a big beer drinker, I did not appreciate the contribution made by this chain to the real ale drinkers. The message is that you can get drink and a meal with no pretension at a reasonable price. I have eaten also at the branch in Hackney, so it is all pretty predictable. If you look at their web site, there is a single menu for all establishments.
Probably I should not have, but I chose the large mixed grill.

Large Mixed grill - with chips, peas, tomato and a flat mushroom

Gammon steak, rump steak, lamb chops, pork steak, 2 Lincolnshire pork sausages, with chips and peas, tomato, a flat mushroom, a fried free-range egg and six beer-battered whole onion rings.

• 2158kcal

Nutrition	Energy (kcal)	Protein (g)	Carbs (g)	Fat (g)	Sat.Fat (g)	Fibre (g)	Salt (g)
Per portion	2158	117.4	122.7	136.9	48.9	17.5	8.2
% GDA	108	261	53	196	245	73	137

I really ought to know better, because that is a humongous amount of calories, and it simply does not look as if it is going to do anyone's health any good. It is more than a days allowance of virtually everything except fibre and I am only supposing that there was not any more room for carbs.

This is what it really looks like: not far from the model.

They probably have a picture in the kitchen of what it is supposed to look like when it is served, as this is formula food. But it is quite good for what it is, and you cannot knock the price of £11.90 including a non-alcoholic drink. For those of you that don't like paying service, the pay-at-the-bar-before-you-eat is good news and bad news. Its very much a case of find a table, order the food, get your cutlery and condiments and cocoon yourself. I was delighted to see that the coffee machine was being filled with Coffee Lavazza, a favoured brand, but the milk tasted a bit UHT. Some of the meal could have been a bit hotter, but I wasted time taking pictures which were not very contributory, so I give it a 7.Sausages always seem to retain the heat. I have had hot meals there before, and it raises another issue. Whilst we all have favourite places we keep going back to, if you have a really good experience, there is an argument for not going back in case it does not live up to the dream and memory. It was a bit of that here. It is not the sort of place to send your food back. So will I use Wetherspoons again? I think the answer has to be yes, if it is a convenience. There are not a lot of copy-cat chains that offer the variety and value, and you know what you are getting. Next time I think I will stick to the steak and kidney, or if I want to be more virtuous, they do salmon, but I won't be eating chips again for a few weeks.